Building welcome from the ground up: European small and rural communities engaging in refugee resettlement

This study aims to deepen understanding of how refugee resettlement to small or rural localities is experienced by both refugees and receiving communities, drawing on interviews with local stakeholders and refugees in four EU countries (Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden). These interviews pointed to a number of strategies and policy approaches that have emerged at the local level to create sustainable integration pathways for refugees resettled to small and rural areas and to help receiving communities reap the potential benefits of engaging in resettlement: kickstarting refugee integration before arrival; preparing receiving communities and service providers; encouraging sustained interactions between newcomers and other residents; supporting refugees’ long-term integration; and weaving refugee resettlement into local development.